"I think President Obama has made a big mistake... he knows the resolution will have no effect," Ahmadinejad told reporters in Shanghai, where he was participating in "Iran Day" at the World Expo. "Very soon he will come to understand he has not made the right choice and he has blocked the way to having friendly ties with the Iranian people." He ripped into Obama's administration for leading the drive to slap Tehran with a new round of UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear program and accused Washington of trying to "swallow" the entire Middle East.
"The nuclear program is just a pretext -- the government of the US is trying to swallow the entire Middle East region," the Iranian leader told a press conference. "On the pretext of controlling the Middle East, the US is trying to control the entire world and Iran is never going to allow the United States to do so," he added. He accused Obama of reneging on a pledge to "eliminate the unilateralism and bullying of the previous administration" of George W. Bush. "Now he has embarked on the same path as Bush... so this is an end of the model for change," Ahmadinejad said.
Turning to Israel, Ahmadinejad said the Zionist entity was "doomed" and accused the United States of shielding it. "It is clear the United States is not against nuclear bombs because they have a Zionist regime with nuclear bombs in the region." But he added: "They are trying to save the Zionist regime, but the Zionist regime will not survive. It is doomed."
Ahmadinejad also blasted global nuclear powers for keeping nuclear technology from other states while they have used destructive bombs. Ahmadinejad made the comments in Shanghai, choosing a visit to his country's pavilion over an appearance at a regional security summit in Uzbekistan attended by Chinese and Russian leaders.
"Nuclear states do not allow others to even peaceful use nuclear energy," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at an Iranian cultural event at the Shanghai Expo. "Some of them have used destructive bombs. They are the perpetrators of using these weapons but they would prevent others from peacefully using nuclear technology," he said.
"They want to monopolize science and technology for themselves to protect their material interests."
Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Shanghai on Thursday, was not expected to meet Chinese leaders or visit Beijing during his stay. Early in the day, he was mobbed by supporters as he walked through the Iranian pavilion at Expo, surrounded by a ring of Chinese security guards. After inspecting several exhibits including a rug-weaving display, he signed the guest book in Farsi. "Peace among nations" was part of the message, according to pavilion staff.
When asked by a reporter about the sanctions, the Iranian leader did not reply, but an aide said: "Sanctions mean nothing." Ahmadinejad was due to give a press conference in Shanghai at 3:30 pm (0730 GMT) on Friday.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a US-drafted resolution sanctioning Tehran with military and financial sanctions -- measures that Ahmadinejad likened to a "used hanky which should be thrown in the dustbin".
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki insisted Friday that Iran's nuclear program was peaceful and that new UN sanctions imposed against the Islamic state were "unjust". "The peaceful use of nuclear energy -- is the inalienable right of all members of the (nuclear) non-proliferation treaty," he said at a meeting of the Russia and China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan.
On Thursday, Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi lashed out at China over its yes vote. "China is gradually losing its respectable position in the Islamic world and by the time it wakes up, it will be too late," he said, according to ISNA news agency. Salehi also accused Beijing of "double standards" by adopting a different position towards its communist ally North Korea, which has abandoned the Non-Proliferation Treaty while Iran remains an adherent.
Beijing later took pains to reassure Iran of its long-term friendship. "China highly values relations with Iran and feels they are conducive to regional peace, stability and development," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday in Beijing. Qin reiterated that the goal of the new resolution, the fourth round of UN sanctions against Tehran, was to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, not to shut the door on dialogue.
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